Carlucci graduated from Wyoming Seminary in 1948 and went on to attend Princeton University, Harvard Business School, the U.S. Navy and eventually a career in government that saw him ascend to the highest levels of the federal bureaucracy, working for Presidents Richard M. Nixon, Gerald R. Ford, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan.

During his decades-long career, Carlucci served as U.S. Secretary of Defense, deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency and director of the federal Office of Economic Opportunity, among other high-profile posts. Still, his greatest contribution to Northeast Pennsylvania arguably came in 1972, when he was dispatched by President Richard Nixon to coordinate federal recovery operations in the flood-ravaged Wyoming Valley.

Starting June 23, 1972, when rushing waters broke through the Susquehanna River levee system, the Agnes Flood damaged around 20,000 homes and more than 2,700 businesses in the Wyoming Valley, causing an estimated $1 billion worth of damage there. And while the recovery and federal response sometimes frustrated flood victims, former Democrat Congressman Paul Kanjorski said Carlucci’s involvement made the process smoother.

“The major frustration was a philosophical difference with the Nixon administration,” said Kanjorski, who served in Congress from 1985 to 2011 and who in 1972 served on the Flood Victims Action Council, a group that helped drive the Agnes recovery effort. “They just didn’t understand the role the government and government financing could play in disaster recovery, and I think Frank did understand that more than they did. He served as a good voice for us down there.”

As flood czar, Carlucci served as an intermediary between the Nixon administration and local officials on flood recovery efforts. His familiarity with Northeast Pennsylvania and its people made Carlucci a valuable emissary to Nixon, who was in the midst of a reelection campaign at the time. Carlucci’s NEPA connection also made him a valuable resource for flood victims, Kingston-based political consultant Ed Mitchell said.

“Usually when you have a disaster of this type, you get these national bureaucrats who deal with it and they don’t have any knowledge of the background or history of the area they’re dealing with,” Mitchell said, arguing Carlucci was the exception to the rule. “He always stood up for Northeastern Pennsylvania and won, no matter what role he was in.”

Newspaper reports from the late summer and fall of 1972 describe how Carlucci worked with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to provide temporary housing to thousands of displaced area residents, and to ensure that those temporary homes had working heat and other utilities. Many of those reports describe him as Nixon’s “personal envoy” to the flood-stricken region.

He also was responsible for consolidating agents of various government offices at the Hotel Sterling in Wilkes-Barre, centralizing flood-recovery resources there, said Robert Wolensky, an adjunct professor at King’s College who authored the book “Better than Ever: The Flood Recovery Task Force and the 1972 Agnes Disaster.”

“He was well respected locally ... because he got things done for the middle class and the working class,” said Wolensky, who credited Carlucci for pushing for federal passage of the Agnes Recovery Act.

In addition to serving as Nixon’s troubleshooter in the Wyoming Valley after Agnes, Carlucci remained close to Wyoming Seminary, his alma mater, serving on the school’s board of trustees from 1978 to 1984 and often returning for class reunions. A wrestler at Wyoming Seminary, Carlucci and his teammates won back-to-back National Prep School titles in 1947 and 1948.

“We remember his tireless, extraordinary hands-on efforts to help this area and Sem recover from the devastating flood caused by Hurricane Agnes in 1972,” a Monday statement from the school reads. “When we as a school consider the importance of public service, we would look to Frank and his career as an inspiring example.”

Pittston-native Michael Clark — who in 1972 worked for Democrat Congressman Dan Flood, another local leader who was instrumental in the Agnes recovery efforts — remembers standing in the East Room of the White House when then-Vice President Spiro Agnew introduced Carlucci as flood czar. He considered Carlucci a friend.

“When he spoke, you listened,” Clark said, noting his late friend never had to say anything twice. “He could walk into a room and just shut up and look at everybody and you got the hint: Carlucci was here.”

In 1954, he married Jean Anthony. They had two children, Karen Romano and Frank IV. The marriage ended in divorce, and in 1976 he married Marcia Myers. They had a daughter, Kristin Carlucci Weed.

At Princeton, he studied with two future cabinet secretaries, Donald H. Rumsfeld (Defense) and James A. Baker 3rd (Treasury, State) and was a wrestling teammate with Rumsfeld.

Carlucci died at home in McLean, Virginia, of complications from Parkinson's disease, according to his wife, Marcia Myers Carlucci.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by his children; a sister, Joan Kleinrock; and six grandchildren.

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